Unidirectional clutch

ABSTRACT

A one-way clutch including an outer member containing a bore surrounding a spaced inner member with a full complement of rollers in side-to-side engagement located around the inner member between the two members. One or more control members may be spaced between the rollers to urge the rollers in a given rotary direction against wedging ramps provided on the surfaces of one of the members to engage the clutch for driving purposes.

United States Patent 11 1 Marola et al. A

1 1 July 17, 1973 UNIDIRECTIONAL CLUTCH [75] Inventors: Americo E. Marola, Torrington;

Gerald W. Gehrke, Litchfield, both of Conn.

[73] Assignee: The Torrington Company,

Torrington, Conn.

221 Filed: May 4, 1971 211 Appl. No.: 140,092

[52] US. Cl. 192/45 [51] Int. Cl. F1611 15/00 [58] Field 01 Search 192/45, 44; 188/8284 [56] References Cited v UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,583,530 5/1926 De Lavaud 192/45 3,623,581 11/1971 Livezey.. 192/45 3,249,186 5/1966 Kluwe 192/45 3,626,569 Kluwe 192/45 X 2,085,606 6/1937 Rockwell et al. 192/44 X 521,942 6/1894 Swan 1 188/8284 3,103,998 9/1963 Watson 192/45 2,051,385 8/1936 Murray 192 44 x 2,066,167 12/1936 Swartz 192/44 X 2,292,988 8/1942 Bloomfield et a1. 192/45 Primary ExaminerAllan D. Herrmann Att0rneyFrank S. Troidl and David W. Tibbott 57 1 ABSTRACT A one-way clutch including an outer member eontaining a bore surrounding a spaced inner member with a full complement of rollers in side-to-side engagement located around the inner member between the two members. One or more control members may be spaced between the rollers to urge the rollers in a given rotary direction against wedging ramps provided on the surfaces of one of the members to engage the clutch for driving purposes.

6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures Paten ted July 17, 1973 2 Shoots-Sher; L I;

TORS ROLA GERARD M. GEHRKE IN MER/CO E.-

3 M \NTLM ATTORNEY 1 UNIDIRECTIONAL CLUTCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to one-way or overrunning clutches and more specifically to one-way clutches of the roller-type such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,020 issued to C. F. Benson et al.

A conventional one-way clutch of the roller-type includes an outer member containing a bore surrounding a spaced inner member with a series of rollers located in the space between the two members with one of the members carrying a cam or wedging ramp for each roller for wedging or locking the rollers between the members when the clutch is engaged for driving purposes. This conventional clutch has its rollers spaced apart with an individual spring or other control means located between each pair of adjacent rollers to urge an individual roller against its wedging ramp toward a locking position. Since the rollers are spaced apart, the number of rollers available for locking purposes is reduced, as compared to using a full complement of rollers, thus reducing the torque capacity of a clutch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved one-way clutch of the roller type which has a substantially increased torque transmitting capacity and is less costly to manufacture compared to prior art clutches.

Other important objects of this invention are: to provide a roller-type one-way clutch using a full complement of rollers; to provide a roller-type one-way clutch using either none or a minimal number of roller control springs compared to conventional clutches; and to provide a roller-type one-way clutch using a novel combi' nation roller and spring.

In general, the foregoing objects are attained in a clutch containing a full complement of rollers with the option of using either none or a few control elements for urging the rollers toward locking positions. Normally, if control elements are used, there is only one or two control elements and the forces applied by the control elements to the rollers will be transmitted between adjacent rollers by having the rollers engaged in sideto-side contact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention is described in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of a diametrical section of an embodiment of a one-way clutch;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view looking at the inside of the clutch with the inner rotating member omitted to illustrate the clutch rollers;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section similar to'FIG. l of a second embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section similar to FIG. 2 of the second embodiment;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 of a third embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a section taken on line 7-7 in FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 8 and 9 are views similar to FIG. 1 of fourth and fifth embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The roller clutch 1 of FIGS. 1 and 2 includes an inner shaft member 2 having a cylindrical periphery 3 surrounded by an outer hollow member 4 containing a bore 5 receiving the shaft member 2 in spaced relationship. A series of engaging rollers.6 are positioned in the bore 5 between the members 2 and 4.

The rollers 6 are held in place between the members 2 and 4 by side flanges 15 provided on the ends of the outer member 4 to project over the ends of the rollers 6. In addition, the rollers 6 should be held in place by a suitable retainer means to prevent them from falling out before the inner member .2 is assembled within the rollers. In the drawing, the ends of the rollers are reduced to small trunnions l6 and the side flanges l5 carry lips 17 that are turned inwardly over the roller trunnions 16, as shown in FIG. 7.

The interior surface of the hollow member 4 carries a series of wedging teeth 18 spaced around its axis and arranged so that a wedging tooth 18 cooperates with each roller. Each wedging tooth includes a front wedging ramp or surface 19 and a rear' non-wedging surface or stop 20. The front wedging ramp 19 forms a relatively small angle with a plane located tangentially to the shaft periphery 3 at a point on the periphery 3 adjacent to the wedging ramp 19 so that a roller 6 will wedge between the wedging ramp 19 and the periphery 3 of the shaft 2, when the roller 6 is forced in a counterclockwise direction, looking at FIG. 1. This wedging of the roller6 can be caused by either the shaft 2 attempting to rotate in a counterclockwise direction or the outer member 4 attempting to rotate clockwise. The thus wedged rollers 6 connect the clutch together in driving engagement.

The rear non-wedging stop or surface 20 forms a much larger angle with a plane tangential to the shaft periphery 3 adjacent the non-wedging stop 20 so that a roller 6 cannot be pinched or wedged between the two members 2 and 4 when rolled against the nonwedging stop 20. At this time, the clutch is disengaged or in an overrunning condition. The rotation direction of the clutch members in the overrunning condition will depend on which member is the driving member. When overrunning, the shaft.2 can rotate clockwise while the outer member 4 can rotate counterclockwise, as shown in FIG. 1.

The first embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2 does not contain any control members such as springs for urging the rollers 6 in the wedging direction. Applicant has found that control members are not necessary in certain applications, particularly when the dimensions are controlled accurately.

As soon as the torque on the clutch acts in a roller wedging direction, it is only necessary for a single roller to be wedged into a locking position. This wedged roller 6 acts to force the other rollers 6 toward a wedged position in two ways. First, since the rollers 6 are in contact with each other, the movement of one will be transmitted throughout the entire group of rollers. Second, the wedged roller will attempt to displace the inner and outer members 2 and 4 from a concentric position which willcause the rollers. diametrically opposite the wedged roller to be pinched or wedged sooner than they might be normally. This action of the rollers in wedging might be characterized as achaintype or sequential type of action. The position of the rollers are interdependent on each other and, thus, the wedging of a single roller causes all of the rollers to move into wedging positions. In order for the first embodiment to operate properly, it has been found that the dimensions of the various elements of the clutch should be reasonably accurate.

In some cases, it is desirable to use one or more control elements for urging the rollers 6 toward the wedging position. A second embodiment 23 of clutch is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 wherein the control element is a coiled spring roller 25 having a relaxed diameter which is slightly larger than the diameter of the rollers 6. Due to its larger size, the spring rollers 25 will abut the rear non-wedging stop 20 of the adjacent wedging tooth 18 and urge the rollers against the front wedging ramps 19 of the teeth 18. In addition, the oversize spring roller 25 will attempt to force the shaft member 2 toward an eccentric position away from the spring roller 25 to further aid the rollers 6 diametrically opposite of the spring roller 25 in wedging or locking the shaft 2 when attempting to rotate in its locking direction. The spring roller 25 will also act like the other rollers 6 in rolling against the front wedging ramps 19 of the wedging teeth 18 to serve in locking the shaft 2 against rotation in its locking direction. The spring roller 25 is shown in FIG. 4 as having trunnion ends 26, like the rollers 6. It should be understood that the rollers 6 and spring 25 can be retained by other retaining means than that shown in thedrawings.

In the third embodiment 30 in FIGS. and 6, the spring roller 25 is replaced by a leaf spring 32 located between the members 2 and 4 and anchored in slots 33 provided in the side flanges 15 attached to the outer member 4. The spring 32 is located in the set of rollers 6 where a roller would normally be located and is arranged to urge the rollers 6 in a given rotary direction wherein they are urged against the front wedging ramps 19 of the wedging teeth 18. Since the rollers 6 engage each other, in side-to-side contact, a singlespring 32 will force allof the rollers 6 against their respective wedging teeth 18.

In some cases, it may be desirable to have two or three of the springs 32 located around the axis of the clutch at equal angular spaced relationship.

A fourthembodiment 34 of the clutch is shown in FIG. 8. In this fourth embodiment 34, the wedging teeth 18 are located on the periphery of the inner shaft 2 instead of on the outer member 4 as is true in the first embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2. Otherwise, the structure slightly larger than the rollers 6 and acts much like the coil spring roller 25 in the second embodiment. The resilient roller 37 can be made of rubber or a similar elastomeric substance.

A further example of a control memberis the use of a hollow steel roller with sufficient elasticity or springiness to act similar to the coil spring roller 25 in the second embodiment in FIGS. 3 and 4 or the elastic resilient roller 37 in FIG. 9.

Although several embodiments of the invention are illustrated and described in detail, it will be understood that the invention is not limited simply to these embodiments, but contemplates other embodiments and variations which utilize the concepts and teachings of this invention.

We claim:

1. A one-way clutch including:

a first member containing an internal bore;

a second member located within said bore, the entire external periphery of the second member being spaced from the interior of said bore;

a plurality of equal length rollers and at least one resilient member in side-.by-side engagement and together completely surrounding the second member and located around said second member between said members and the circumferential force applied to one of the engaged rollers in a rotary direction by said at least one resilient member will be transmitted through the rollers throught the engagement between said rollers; and

one of said members carrying a series of wedging surfaces for cooperating with the rollers to wedge and lock said rollers between said members when said rollers are urged-in a given rotary direction.

2. The one-way clutch of claim 1 wherein:

said wedging surfaces are located on said first member within its bore.

3. The one-way clutch of claim 1 wherein:

said wedging surfaces are located on the periphery of said second member. I

4. The one-way clutch of claim 1 wherein said resilient member is a spring.

5. The one-way clutch of claim 4 wherein:

said spring is anchored to said one member carrying said wedging surfaces.

6. The one-way clutch of claim 4 wherein:

said resilient member is a resilient roller spring that is larger than said rollers and is located between two of said rollers,'said roller spring urging said engaging rollers in said given rotary direction by reacting against an abutment surface mounted on said one member between said wedging surfaces.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,746,136 Dated July 17,1973

lnventofls) Americo E. Marola et a1 It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet [75] "Gerald W. Gehrke" should read Gerard W. Gehrke Signed and sealed this 29th day of January 1974.-

(SEAL) Attestz EDWARD M.FLE\TCHER,JR. RENE D. TEGTMEYER Attesting Officer Acting Commissioner of Patents DRM PO-! 050 (10-69} USCOMM-DC 037.4 69 & GOV EKNMENT PR| NTING QFFICE l9! 0-366-334, 

1. A one-way clutch including: a first member containing an internal bore; a second member located within said bore, the entire external periphery of the second member being spaced from the interior of said bore; a plurality of equal length rollers and at least one resilient member in side-by-side engagement and together completely surrounding the second member and located around said second member between said members and the circumferential force applied to one of the engaged rollers in a rotary direction by said at least one resilient member will be transmitted through the rollers throught the engagement between said rollers; and one of said members carrying a series of wedging surfaces for cooperating with the rollers to wedge and lock said rollers between said members when said rollers are urged in a given rotary direction.
 2. The one-way clutch of claim 1 wherein: said wedging surfaces are located on said first member within its bore.
 3. The one-way clutch of claim 1 wherein: said wedging surfaces are located on the periphery of said second member.
 4. The one-way clutch of claim 1 wherein: said resilient member is a spring.
 5. The one-way clutch of claim 4 wherein: said spring is anchored to said one member carrying said wedging surfaces.
 6. The one-way clutch of claim 4 wherein: said resilient member is a resilient roller spring that is larger than said rollers and is located between two of said rollers, said roller spring urging said engaging rollers in said given rotary direction by reacting against an abutment surface mounted on said one member between said wedging surfaces. 